Die tödliche Rache

(1980) The Victim (In Chinese with English subtitles) ACTION

Directed and starred by Sammo Hung (Hung Kam Bo) which states the situation about a brother picked up when he was an orphan and at the same time hated by the father's biological son who even tried to take his wife away. And making things complicated they both have the exact same kung fu style of using the fists except that the star was a better fighter. This nonsensical plot is nothing more than a device to showcase some amazing acrobatic martial arts when Sammo was still in his prime. So basically this rating is for the "kung fu" and not so much for the plot.

Brilliant action choreography, a story filled with twists and turns and an unforgettable ending makes this an all-time classic in the genre.

This is one of Sammo's masterpieces and Leung Kar Yan has never looked better fighting onscreen. Wilson Tong earns his nickname of the "Foot Doctor" in this classic.

Highest possible recommendation

Sammo Kam-Bo Hung has crafted a masterpiece of classic martial arts action. Do not miss this.

This film contains some of the best martial arts fight scenes ever shot. Long takes, complex action with large numbers of participants, but most importantly, absolutely stunning choreography and plenty of it. Even in intense action sequences Samo can add a moment of humour before the intensity starts again.

The plot is decent (for a martial arts movie). The comedy is slapstick orientated and thankfully mostly works.

As any fan of Asian action cinema knows, it's the fights that matter and these action sequences deliver in spades.

Samo Hung is a legend amongst fight fans, but sadly largely unrecognised outside Hong Kong aficionados for his absolutely massive contribution to action scenes that Hollywood slowly picked up on. Unfortunately, they still don't grasp many of the concepts Samo and his fellows, like Jackie Chan, created in the 80's Golden years of Hong Kong cinema. Fight editing is dire in Hollywood.

Sadly, every copy I can find is not of the best quality, even the DVD. I really wish someone would do a restoration job on it.

I've watched this more times than I care to think about. Every single time, the action makes my muscles tense and I hit the rewind too often. It really is that good!

A solid 10 for martial arts fans. Do not miss this one. 7/10 for others.

I just watched this movie yesterday and it just might have been the best kung-fu movie i have ever seen!

It was funny and had lots of really great choreography!! Even Jackie and Jet couldn't do any better than this.

Sammo's remarkable masterpiece is ideally a classic vehicle to showcase Leung Kar Yan's talents (he's simply never looked better), but The Victim seems to work on many other levels: the action scenes are worthy of Sammo's legendary status as a choreographer; the comedy touches are subtle enough and occasionally quite funny; and with it's outpouring of high-octane drama - detailing an ongoing family feud - this is thoroughly more exciting than other run-of-the-mill kung fu pulp. Sammo plays his typical happy-go-lucky who seeks out a new sifu, Leung Kar Yan, a man with clearly problems of his own: his brother (Chang Yi) tried to rape his wife and has therefore been on the run ever since. Will Leung ever face up to his enemy or just continue to run? The Victim is a true late night classic; still fresh and entertaining even after all these years.